Pauline Duvernay or Yolande Marie-Louise Duvernay or Yolande Marie Louise de Varnay (December 1812 – 2 September 1894) was a French dancer.

Biography

Pauline Duvernay was born at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and became a student of Hippolyte Barrez at the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

, where she also worked with

Auguste Vestris Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris (27 March 1760 – 5 December 1842), was a French dancer. He was born in Paris, the illegitimate son of Gaétan Vestris and Marie Allard. His father was a Florentine dancer who had joined ...

, Jean-Francois Coulon and

Filippo Taglioni Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet ...

. She made her debut on the stage of the Théâtre de l´Académie Royale de Musique in Paris performing Venus in

Jean-Baptiste Blache Jean-Baptiste Blache de Beaufort (17 May 1765, in Berlin – 24 January 1834, in Toulouse) was a German ballet dancer and ballet master active in France. A student of Deshayes, he learned the violin and cello and had what was in essence a provin ...

's ''Mars et Vénus''. That same year she made her debut in London at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dru ...

Jean-Pierre Aumer Jean-Louis Aumer (21 April 1774 – 6 July 1833), also referred to as Jean-Pierre Aumer, was a French ballet dancer and choreographer. Early life and career as a dancer Aumer was born in Strasbourg of a manual labourer and non-theatrical parents ...

's ''La Belle au bois dormant'' ("Sleeping Beauty"). Working with the renowned Ballet du Théâtre de l´Académie Royale de Musique (today known as the

), she also gave outstanding performances in

Jean Coralli Jean Coralli (15 January 1779 – 1 May 1854) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer, best known for collaborating with Jules Perrot in creating ''Giselle'' (1841), the quintessential Romantic ballet of the nineteenth century. Early lif ...

's ''

La tentation ''La tentation'' is a ballet-opera, a hybrid work in which both singers and dancers play major roles. It was premiered in 1832 in its original five-act form by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier. Most of the music was by Fromental Halévy, ...

'' (music by

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

and

Casimir Gide Casimir Gide (4 July 1804 – 18 February 1868) was a 19th-century French composer, bookseller as well as prints and maps editor. Biography The son of the Parisian bookseller Theophile Etienne Gide (1768–1837), to whom he would succeed, and of ...

) in 1832. Her beauty and dancing skills captivated audiences in Paris and London, and she enjoyed tremendous popularity. She retired in 1837, at the height of her career, marrying an English banker and Member of Parliament,

Stephens Lyne-Stephens Stephens Lyne-Stephens (4 October 1801 – 28 February 1860) was an English British Tory Party, Tory politician who represented Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency), Barnstaple before the Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45). After inheritin ...

, thought to be the richest commoner in England at that time. Duvernay devoted herself to charity work. Stephens bought

Lynford Hall Lynford Hall is a neo-Jacobean country house at Mundford, near Thetford in the English county of Norfolk. It is now a hotel. Location The Lynford Hall Hotel is a short distance east of the A1065County A to Z Atlas, Street & Road maps Norfolk ...

near

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

in 1856, intending to develop its with mansion house, parkland and lake as a hunting retreat, and commissioned the architect

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

to refurbish it. His death in 1861 set off a frenzy of fortune hunters, who went so far as to tamper with their family trees in order to bolster their claims to the estate. The fortune had been amassed by William Stephens of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, an illegitimate child born in 1731. He started a glass factory in Portugal with his brother and members of the related Lyne family. Stephens had influential political connections in Portugal, exempting his business from taxes.Amazon.co.uk: Glass: The Strange History of the Lyne Stephens Fortune: Jenifer Roberts: Books
/ref> A childless widow, Duvernay had a liaison with General

Edward Stopford Claremont General Edward Charles John Stopford Claremont Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (born Stopford; 23 January 1819 – 16 July 1890) was a British soldier who was the United Kingdom's first military attaché, holding the post in Paris for 25 ...

who had been the British

Military Attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

to France. She lived at Lynford Hall, using her personal fortune to build the Catholic Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, St Francis of Assisi Church in Shefford, and financially assisting local schools. She died at

Mundford Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about north west of Thetfor ...

, Norfolk, and was buried at

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

References

External links

Our Lady and the English Martyrs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duvernay, Pauline French ballerinas 1812 births 1894 deaths French expatriates in the United Kingdom